Okay, so now you know the five ways that split placements can boost business for recruiters. But is that enough to convince the average recruiter to join a split fee recruiting network?
Sadly, no. However, we are prepared for such a contingency.
Top Echelon Network was founded in 1988, although at the time it was named Nationwide Interchange Service (NIS). That means we’ve convinced recruiters to make split placements and helped them make splits for over 31 years.
That also means we’ve heard just about every objection to split fee recruiting that you can imagine. (Although nobody has yet told us that they’re high in fat.) You can call them objections. You can call them arguments. We like to call them myths.
That’s because split placements present opportunities. Whereas all that some recruiters see is a split fee as opposed to a full fee, splits provide both short-term and long-term value. Opportunities and value: who could argue with two such propositions?
Split network myths, fallacies, and misconceptions
Recruiters, that’s who! That’s why we’ve prepared the top five arguments against joining and using a split network, which as you will see, are actually myths.
Myth #1 — “Splits aren’t worth my time.”
The myth: This is an easy one to believe. “Only half the fee?” a recruiter might ask. “That’s not worth my time!” Sure, why make splits when you can chase full-fee placements all the live-long day? After all, you’re doing the same amount of work but only earning half the fee? What the heck is up with THAT?
The reality: The leveraging and maximizing of time and resources is one of the many beautiful things about split placements. As we meticulously outlined in our blog post about how split placements promote business development for recruiters, splits offer many opportunities. You can make multiple split placements using less time, energy, and effort than it takes to make one full-fee placement. All it takes is the ability to recognize the opportunities and the desire to take advantage of them.
Myth #2 — “I’m not giving away my candidates.”
The myth: Let’s say that I’m a recruiter working with another recruiter in a split placement situation. Let’s also say that I bring the candidate to the situation. Then that recruiter knows my candidate! They can contact my candidate and try to place them down the road without my knowledge! I am justifiably enraged by this possibility!
The reality: Simmer down, recruiter-me. Think about this for a minute. If you could have placed this candidate on your own, you would have, right? The fact of the matter is that you didn’t have the right job for the candidate. Another fact is that you were compensated for your contribution of the candidate. Might you be able to place that candidate again? Surely. Might your new trading partner be able to place the candidate again in another one of their job orders and then split another placement fee with you? Just as surely. If you’re worried that the other recruiter is going to steal your candidate, then you don’t trust the other recruiter. Trust is an important ingredient in making split placements. Once you find a split partner that you trust, then you stop worrying about them stealing candidates. This is 29 years of experience talking.
Myth #3 — “I’m not giving away my clients.”
The myth: This one is similar to #2. As such, I will once again call upon recruiter-me. Let’s say I’m a recruiter working with another recruiter in a split placement situation. Let’s also say that I bring the job order to the situation. Then that recruiter might find out the name of my client! They might try to contact my client and get job orders from them! They could start stealing business from me! Are you completely out of your mind?
The reality: Simmer DOWN, recruiter-me. Yes, the prospect of losing clients is even more terrifying than the prospect of losing candidates. Once again, though, if you trust another recruiter enough to make a split placement with them, then you should trust them enough to not steal from you. Here’s an illustration of how much Top Echelon’s split network members trust one another. In some instances, when one recruiter goes on vacation, they instruct their clients to contact their split partner in their absence. Sound crazy? Only if you’ve never truly trusted another recruiter.
Myth #4 — “I was burned by another recruiter before.”
The myth: Yes, there are some unsavory recruiters in the profession. This should not be a huge revelation to those in the reading audience. So what’s the myth? The myth is that this isolated (yet heinous) incident is iron-clad proof that split placements do NOT work. “I tried it once,” you say, “and look what happened. Look at what happened. Look at it!”
The reality: There are current members of Top Echelon’s split network who have been burned by other recruiters before. And they STILL believe in the value and power of split placements. What does that tell you? It tells you there must be tremendous value in splits! It tells you that these recruiters have been rewarded far more often for their willingness to make splits than they’ve been punished. (If they’ve been punished at all.) If you are an experienced, skilled, high-quality, ethical recruiter, then you are not alone. There are others like you in your niche. You just have to find them. They can help you make more money.
Myth #5 — “Real recruiters don’t make splits.”
The myth: If you’re a “real recruiter,” then you don’t have to rely upon the resources of another recruiter to make a placement. What are you, a sissy-recruiter?! This is akin to the old adage, “Real men don’t each quiche.” If actor Dwayne Johnson (aka, The Rock) ate quiche, would you accuse him of not being a real man? To his face? In front of several bystanders who might eventually be called to the stand as witnesses?
The reality: Real recruiters place candidates in open positions, and they place as many candidates in as many open positions as they can. Then, as a result, they bill as much as they possibly can every year. And if they’re top-billing recruiters, then they bill more each year than they did the year before. Do they care if split placements helped them to increase those billings? No. Is the money they earn from splits not as valuable as the money from their other placements? No. This is not 1984. “Big Brother Recruiter” is not watching. Sometimes, real recruiters work together to tag-team a job order and make a split placement. Sometimes, two real recruiters are better than one. Now go eat some quiche.
Split network of over 18,000 placements
Since 1988, recruiters in Top Echelon’s split network have made over 18,000 placements. That means 34,000 recruiters earning a placement fee they might not have made without a trading partner. That means literally hundreds of millions of dollars in placement fees.
How can anybody say that there’s no money in split placements? There’s plenty of money in splits. But you must be willing to consider the opportunities that they present. You must be willing to be more flexible than you are stubborn. You must be open to the possibility that you’re not a “super recruiter” and that the only way to truly maximize the earning potential of your firm is to rely upon the resources of other recruiters.
If you’re open to that possibility, then I invite you to apply for membership with Top Echelon’s split fee recruiting network. We have over 1,000 recruiters who are sharing job orders and candidates and making split placements on a daily basis.
You could join them!